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Vote!

I’ve been meaning to write a quick post about the importance of voting in Thursday's local and European elections, and have found that Matthew Hosier has posted a better list of reasons to vote than I would have come up with. You can read the whole thing here. The point I’d highlight is his use of Romans 13:1 to argue that submission to those in authority (and therefore Jesus) makes it beholden on Christians to take part in the democratic process.

A couple of points in addition to Matt’s:

Politics may seem pretty dirty right now but it won’t get any cleaner if we don’t vote.

I think Christians can vote for any of the main parties in UK politics and we should hope and expect to have Christians involved in all of them.

I’ll be voting for local councillors based on what I know of them personally, and for the European MPs based on the political party they represent.

If you’ve got time (and I’d advise you to make time), check out the parties’ policy pages. I haven’t read all of them but I’ve had a look at some issues that are particularly important to me. Here are links (in alphabetical order) for Conservative, Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat.

I usually try to steer clear of commenting publicly on political issues, and certainly on my personal preferences, but there is one issue I want to raise. Neither of my grandfathers were born in this country, so I’m third generation immigrant. I’m so grateful that this nation has had a generous attitude towards the weak from other lands; I think there is something righteous in that and iniquitous in a refusal to do so. Our democratic process allows people to believe and say otherwise – and also gives us the opportunity to ensure that they take no part in governing us. I took the photo above in my home town, grieved. I will be voting, and praying.

So get your polling card, find out where you need to go to vote (it will say on the card), and get there. If you have no idea about the practicalities of voting, the people at the polling station will be delighted to show you what to do. More information is available from About My Vote.